With limited chances to observe Oilers first-rounder Oscar Klefbom in action before he disappears back into the wilds of the Swedish Elite League, I took the opportunity to focus on his play in Sweden’s semi-final game.

Klefbom, who has been stationed in Calgary since Sweden’s pre-tourney exhibition game vs. Canada, had an impressive performance in the Group A round robin. He started every game on the Swedish blueline, paired with Jonas Brodin, a fellow 2011 first-rounder (10th overall, Minnesota Wild). Klefbom, a big left-shooting rearguard, has been playing the right side. Through the preliminary round stage he led the tournament in plus/minus at +9, and more impressively was not on the ice for a single (even-strength) goal against in the four games. That’s playing first-pairing minutes on a team that allowed 11 goals. He has just two points, but his lone goal started Sweden’s three-goal, third-period comeback against Russia. Tre Kronor ultimately won it in the shootout, thus clinching the pool and a bye into Tuesday’s semi-final against Nordic rival Finland.

This game would follow a similar path, with Sweden falling behind 2-0 through 40 minutes before coming back to tie it up in the third, then win it in the shootout to qualify for tonight’s gold medal game, a rematch against Russia. In the semi the Swedes cycled three pairings for the most part, with Klefbom – Brodin matched against the top Finnish line of the Granlund brothers and TeemuPulkkinen, although he also saw a fair bit of slick sniper Joel Armia. I’m not sure how much of it was matching and how much was a natural byproduct of all of those guys, Klefbom included, getting heavy minutes.

Following Klefbom from shift to shift, and with liberal use of the 15-second rewind button, this is what caught my eye as the game unfolded:

First period notes:

– stops Teemu Pulkkinen in his tracks at blueline with a solid check, first guy I’ve noticed doing that.

– strong play along end boards to ward off two forechecks, protect puck in skates, roll off hits and walk out.

– good burst of speed to win race to puck, followed by too-soft clearing pass up boards that got picked off in zone.

– a couple of lame wrist shots from long range that had zero chance of beating goalie or creating rebound – not enough traffic to be dangerous.

– showing a tendency to wander a bit after making his first play on the puck/puck carrier, Pulkkinen got behind him after one such for a close-in jam of Granlund’s centring pass.

* * *

Second period notes:

– Makes strong play to step up and pick off lob pass with his glove, break up danger before it started.

– Steps up to red line to intercept breaking Finn, stop him cold, shake the puck loose.

– Good low wrister from top of circle, then better one-time slapper from a little further out. Much better shots than the ones in the first period.

– Outstanding poke check on Granlund at Swedish blueline just when it seemed Finnish captain had a step to the outside, stripping the puck outside the line and stranding opponent in offside position.

– Solid play to win race to loose puck in own zone, battles off two forecheckers, then poke checks the third just when it seemed he had lost the battle.

– Gets burned somewhat on second Finnish goal. After Joel Armia stole the puck off of a teammate he went for the puck and not the man, missing both. Oops. Had just a split-second to make the right decision, but didn’t.

– Now down 2-0, Klefbom immediately gets more aggressive in o-zone. Engages all the way into the offensive corner to keep the cycle going.

* * *

Third period notes:

– Shows nice burst of speed through neutral zone, fires hard slapshot from top of circle that tests Aittokallio.

– Two good plays to hold the blueline and keep the puck in Finnish territory.

– Strong d-zone work to engage, disrupt Finnish cycle.

– Finally gets a PP shift near end of third Swedish powerplay, doesn’t touch puck, but later in shift makes strong play to win race to loose puck in d-zone, then under pressure makes a strong pivot to reverse play and enable an easy Swedish breakout.

– Good play to clear zone under pressure, then when Swedes turn puck over in neutral zone, makes excellent recovery to challenge puck carrier, dispossess him, gain control, clear puck out of danger.

– Bats another puck out of mid-air to hold the line, jumps on loose puck, drives to top of circle, tests Aittokallio with decent wrister.

* * *

Overtime period:

– Starts fourth period in a row. Makes good breakout pass, then a solid play to hold the line. Seconds later jumps on loose puck in own zone, bursts up the RW wall, fires good slapper just inside far post that forces an excellent blocker save, then hustles hard to break up the Finnish counterattack at the Swedish line and force an offside. An excellent sequence.

– Steps up in neutral zone to poke check rushing Finn. Later with Swedes cycling in Finnish zone makes solid decision to change rather than extend his shift and go for glory.

– Forces another Finnish offside by stepping up to Mikael Granlund at the blueline to disrupt the rush.

– Unable to hold the blueline but controls puck, circles back, makes a sharp first pass that starts a four-way passing play ending in a good Swedish shot.

* * *

Overall impression:

This guy can really skate. Several times during the game he accelerated through the neutral zone – in either direction – and showed an extra gear than most defencemen have in their box. In this game at least, I was impressed by the balance he struck between aggressive and conservative play. Employed primarily in a shutdown role, he stepped it up big time in the back half of the game as Sweden continued to trail. Thus we got to see a different aspect of Klefbom than we did in the Edmonton game where Sweden was leading almost throughout. I don’t think he got trapped pinching at any time, and when Sweden did transition from offence to defence he was on his horse going in the right direction on those few occasions he wasn’t already there and waiting. His passing skills didn’t impress, he tended to get pucks airborne but the idea is that they be back on the ice by the time they get to the pass receiver. On the other hand, for a guy who is not a powerplay choice of Roger Rönnberg, he showed off a pretty decent shot, six times in fact during this one. Both slap and wrist shots were low and on goal, with a couple dangerously near the corners that really tested Aittokallio. Defensively he was fairly aggressive, took the body without running around, good gap control but unafraid to step up to disrupt attacks as they hit the blueline. It’s easy to look bad doing that – ask Theo Peckham – but in this game against this level of competition, the 18-year-old was consistently successful using this tactic. I did spot a few cases of “happy feet”, leading to him being a secondary culprit on the Armia goal. Calming those feet down a tad will be a critical need in his development. The point is to stay in position, not skate through it.

Oscar is a work in progress for sure. Still, I emerge from this detailed viewing with a very positive feeling about this player.

Second opinion:

Some very encouraging words for Oiler fans come from Mitch Goldenberg, an Ontario-based sportswriter who has been interning for the Edmonton Journal during the WJC, and doing an outstanding job of it too. (Not all of the prospects plying their trade at the WJHC are on the ice, eh.) In his must-read article of his choices for tournament all-star team, here’s what Mitch had to say about his first-named defenceman, Oscar Klefbom:

The tournament’s only undefeated team relies on Klefbom to anchor their top defensive pairing, and the Edmonton Oilers prospect (2011 Draft, 19th Overall) has responded with a terrific performance so far. The strong, fast blueliner has logged major minutes, been used in all situations and owned the best +/- in the preliminary round. He even chipped in offensively with a big goal that got the rally going against Russia on New Year’s Eve early in the third period. Klefbom is an excellent skater and the nasty combination of size, speed, and skill has helped him thrive so far. If the 6’3, 201 pound 18-year old can make this kind of impact this year, imagine how good he’ll be in next year’s tournament.

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